Preventing the Apocalypse
by MeowMeowKoneko
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke has failed. Failed his comrades, failed his teachers—and most of all, failed his brother. He couldn't protect Konoha. In a desperate attempt to change things, he made a deal with the devil. A deal to make things right— a chance to go back in time. Time Travel AU.
1. Sasuke is the Poster-child for Trauma

Once upon a time, there was a handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes who had a nice elder brother with long silky hair.

They lived with their proud wise father and a beautiful calm mother in a ravishing big house.

Days had shining suns and there never was rain—oh no, *never* and nights were peaceful with big full moons. In the ravishing big house, nothing could go wrong—oh no, *nothing*.

…Until it did. The handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes came home and his proud wise father and beautiful calm mother lay on the floor of their ravishing big house—with **_CRIMSON_**_red_**_BLOOD_**_spilled_**_EVERYWHERE_** and the handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes _SCREAMED_ and **_SCREAMED_** until he could scream no more.

The handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes saw his nice elder brother and latched on to his for dear life—oh, dear *dear* life.

_CRIMSONredBLOODisEVERYWHERE_

_Who was here?_ the handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes asked his beautiful onyx eyes glimmers with RAGEandPAINandDISTRESSand**BLOODLUST **for the man responsible for this.

Oh, foolish little brother. It was me—it was ME all along! the traitorous insane brother of the handsome young boy with beautiful onyx eyes replied, laughing and laughing and _laughing_ because it was ENTERTAINMENT.

It was ENTERTAINMENT to watch the handsome young boy with bloodthirsty onyx eyes suffer and suffer and _suffer_ until he could suffer no more.

_No, it couldn't be! You are not the brother I know!_ the suffering young boy with distressed onyx eyes replied to his traitorous insane brother, _please tell me this is just a dream!_—…

The suffering young boy with distressed onyx eyes wakes up with tears in his once hopeful beautiful eyes to a white ceiling. So **BLINDINGLY** white.

Surely his brother could not have done such a thing—he was so nice, so achingly nice that it couldn't have been true!

Yes, it must have been a dream but whatisdreamandreality and WHYwasheHERE and he felt… sad.

Extremely sad. So sad that his heart felt like it is tearing in half and tearing in half and tearinginHALF again and again.

He trusted his traitorous insane brother, loved him and cherished him because he thought he was the best brother he ever had.

Smirk.

Smile.

Chuckle.

Laughter.

Full-blown magical laughter echoed through the hospital room.

The laughter stops.

Revenge, that was his life goal—and he will achieve it… But he would find out—eight years too late, that it was such a meaningless and STUPID goal.

Eight years too late, indeed.

Uchiha Sasuke stands, on the verge of tears. Sure, the war was won against Madara, but if he hadn't wanted to kill his brother, if he hadn't wanted revenge that badly, Orochimaru wouldn't have died and Kabuto wouldn't have gained his cells—and Madara wouldn't even have had a chance.

He had failed to protect Konoha, everything was in ruins. Sasuke was the last shinobi standing—everyone else had died in the war.

Oh, how he wanted to just go back and change things.

"Little one, do you truly wish to change things so badly?" a deep, calm voice spoke. So he wasn't the only shinobi standing, after all. With reborn hope that was taken away from him eight years ago, he looked around… And spotted the Juubi.

"Why aren't you dead, _Juubi_?" Sasuke said with deadly calm in his tone.

"I am a part of this world, as long as this world lives, I live," the Juubi said, without taking offence, "Call me Datara."

"Well, Datara, why is it that you have approached me?" the raven-haired boy—no, he was a man now, shot back.

"Do you wish to go back and change things?" Datara offered confidently.

"Yes, in fact I do. Why do you ask?"

"I can help you achieve that—"

"There is a condition, isn't there?"  
>"Yes. However, it would not prevent you in the least to help save this little village of yours," the ten-tailed beast spoke, "You would just have to carry me around, become a jinchuuriki, you know,"<p>

"I thought you were sealed in Ōtsutsuki," Sasuke replied, skepticism clear in his otherwise monotonic voice, "What good would this do you, anyway?"

"If I go back in time, I have the power to escape the clutches of Hagoromo—I never quite liked him, anyway. This would do me a number of goods, such as preventing this war that would ultimately lead to the death of that bastard Madara," the demon spoke, hatred lacing his voice at the mention of Madara.

It was clear that he did not like being controlled, and going back in time would prevent him from doing so.

"Why do you need me to go back?"

"You would be my physical representative, you will stop Madara for me. After all, the ten-tailed demon cannot just roam around,"

Sasuke carefully considered the demon's words to try and find any loopholes the demon could use to his advantage—and found none.

"Fine," he succumbed.

The demon was so pleased that he had almost—_almost_ missed the uncharacteristic "thanks" coming from the Uchiha.


	2. Datara is a Living FAQ

Sasuke blinked. And blinked again.

Where was he?

He looked around, taking in his surroundings. Wooden floor, big windows, silk bed… He was in the Uchiha compound, and it was currently night time.

The raven stumbled to where he remembered the bathroom was, and stared.

Surprised, he looked at his reflection and saw a young boy around the age of twelve, with a pale complexion and a prepubescent-looking face. No scars or callouses littered his figure, like they once did.

If this was surprise, then he was _shocked_ to see that his reflection stared back at him with starbursts that were his eyes. Was that… The eternal mangekyou sharingan?

No, this couldn't be possible. He was supposed to be back in time, but he really hadn't expected that his eyes would come back with him.

**_Kid, you must be wondering why you still have those eyes, am I not right?_**Datara's deep voice echoes in his mind. **_You see, the mangekyou sharingan is not physical, but rather mental. It is gained not by physical experience and muscle memory, but by the emotional pain of killing your best friend._**

That made sense. Sasuke stumbled back to his bedroom and looked at the calendar, hanging on the wall.

_Graduation day is tomorrow, how convenient._ Sasuke thought as he climbed back into his bed and closed his eyes.

…

After approximately two minutes to rolling back and forth in the sheets, the raven figured that he couldn't sleep. What to do now, then?

Well, there always was the option of training. _"Training is a shinobi's best friend,"_ his cousin Shisui used to say, _"When you become a shinobi, you'll also understand. It makes you stronger!"_

Couldn't resist smiling at old memories, the Uchiha's lips rose and sighed a nostalgic sigh. Shisui was always the determined optimist, and it eerily reminded Sasuke of Naruto.

Climbing out of the beds, he headed towards Konoha's training grounds (the Uchiha training grounds were still littered with blood as Sasuke didn't want to clean it up—chilled him to the bone).

"What are you doing out here so late, Sasuke-kun?" he hears Iruka's soft but stern voice call to him.

"I couldn't sleep," Sasuke explained.

"Graduation day is tomorrow, aren't you anxious for the test?" Iruka asked, "I figured that you were the best student, so you wouldn't be worried. I guess I was wrong, eh?"

_No, you were right,_ Sasuke wanted to say, _I've never felt any sort of trepidation before, even in my former life_. But he figured it would've come out sounding pompous, so he stopped himself.

"I'm going to train," the Uchiha cautiously spoke, "I want to practise henge and the bunshin jutsu. Farewell."

"Bye!" Iruka waved, as he carried his groceries to his home. Who would've thought that shinobi actually cooked?

It was a half lie, since he was actually going to do that. He wanted to see how strong his child body was, before Orochimaru's hellish training regime.

When he arrived, he first checked if he could sense other chakra, he didn't want others to see how weak he was, after all.

"Bunshin no Jutsu." he whispered to himself… Only two appeared on each side of him, and both looked… deflated.

_What? I do not recall myself being this weak_, he thought to himself as his mind slowly registered what just happened.

**_No, you do not._** Datara calmly spoke, **_it is because of the overwhelmingly great presence of my chakra that you cannot control it._**

_How, then, do I control your chakra?_ Sasuke inquired, _I cannot even pass the genin exams if my skills are in such a poor state._

**_If you promise me that you would not go crazy with the ten-tail chakra, _**the demon stated, **_you can draw upon my power and control it anytime._**

_Just a promise?_ the Uchiha asked curiously.

**_Yes, I believe you to be a man of your word,_**Datara unintentionally praised.

_Damn right I am, _Sasuke shone with pride, _I promise that I won't go crazy and destroy everything with your chakra._

**_That's my boy._**

Even if Datara didn't mean it, the raven was on the verge of tears because of that statement. Finally, someone was proud of him—even if that someone was a demon. Finally, someone isn't going to use him and discard him away like a piece of trash.

"Bunshin no Jutsu" he uttered once more.

Twenty perfectly identical bunshin appeared by his side.

LINE BREAK

It was the day of the graduation exams, and Sasuke was amused at the anxiety his classmates have shown.

One hyperactive Uzumaki Naruto was fidgeting nervously in his seat (how unlike him), one loud Inuzuka Kiba was burying his face in his desk (how unlike him, too), and one Aburame Choji was nibbling on his chips (how very like him).

And one Uchiha Sasuke sat in his seat, observing all of them with hawk-like eyes, clearly entertained.

He closed his eyes and began to think about what he was going to do—the offer came up so suddenly that he didn't even have the time to plan.

After much thought, he had formulated this fool-proof (almost, anyway) plan:

Firstly, he is going to get in team 7 and nag Kakashi to teach him Chidori, so that he could use that in battle.

Of course, as a twelve-year old, he wasn't supposed to know that Kakashi had this trump card, so he was going to prompt Kakashi into telling him by asking the following question: "I've heard about you, Copy Cat Kakashi. Don't you have any original jutsu?"

Then, after Kakashi told him about Chidori, he would proceed to annoy—no, persuade him into teaching him it.

Secondly, he is going to train and train and _train_ until he could train no more and get stronger to prepare for the malice that was Haku and Orochimaru in the bridge and chuunin exams respectively.

Thirdly, he is going to avoid the curse mark because he is stronger this time around.

And he didn't really have a fourth step. He was just going to plan it from there, he guessed.

As if on cue, Mizuki's voice called, "Uchiha Sasuke, please come to the next room for genin testing!"

The test was easy, really, he only really had to perform the substitution jutsu by dodging a kunai when he stepped in the room, and proceed to performing the Bunshin jutsu (to which he made twenty, like last night and shocked both examiners).

"Good job, Sasuke-kun! Here is your hitai-ate."

He wore in on his neck, so it would serve as neck protection and wouldn't get in the way when fighting.

LINE BREAK

"Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura Haruno," Iruka announced, Sakura immediately blushed and screamed a 'shannaro!' inside of her head, "and Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto glared daggers at Sasuke, who ignored it and looked out the window.

It sure is a sunny day today.

LINE BREAK

They have waited two hours.

All the other genin were gone.

_Sakura_ was pissed.

Naruto was _pissed_.

Sasuke was… not pissed. He calmly looked at Naruto and Sakura, and both were just starting to complain loudly.

"Why isn't Kakashi-sensei here already?" Naruto whined, Sasuke finds it damaging to his newly sensitive senses.

Wait, if Juubi was the combination of all the Bijuu, why would the Bijuu exist right now?

**_Because of the fact that I had came here from the past,_** the demon spoke, wisely, **_I am not of the present._**

That made sense. Sasuke just realised this, but Datara could, actually, read his mind.

**_Yes, child. Yes, I can._**

That's always good to know.

A/N: This was sort of a filler chapter, but I really wanted Sasuke to explore his jinchuuriki side and meet his new teammates. Thanks for reading guys, you're awesome! =D


	3. Kakashi is Easily Exasperated

*Notes at end of chapter

Sasuke still finds it hard to believe that Kakashi, the great copy cat ninja Kakashi Hatake, had been hit with a childish prank that even a chuunin could dodge.

"My first impression of you is… I hate you guys." Kakashi stated, filling in the pregnant silence that once filled the air.

"Meet me on the rooftops, and we will talk there."

Sasuke was the first to move, sprinting in a blur of black and blue so fast that one would've missed it if they had blinked. The pure speed shocked even the great Kakashi Hatake.

And he was there, before anyone of his teammates, and his teacher himself.

The Uchiha couldn't help but smirk at his accomplishment.

"Well, hey there." Kakashi said in a happy tone—albeit awkwardly, standing on the space directly in front of Sasuke.

…

…

…

After two agonisingly slow minutes for Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura finally reached the roof, panting like dogs.

"Whew! I al…most got… lost along the… way," the blond said, clearly out of breath. Last time Sasuke saw him, he _died_ in the hands of that DAMNED Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, blood oozing out of his mouth as he smiled at Sasuke, _You are my best friend, Sasuke,_ he claimed.

"Sas-Sasuke-kun! H-how… d-did you… get up here… so… fast?" the pink-haired girl curiously asked, remembering that he had originally disappeared in a blur of black and blue.

"Hn." Sasuke could remember Sakura screaming and screaming and _screaming_ when his _own_ blade pierced heart right after her confession. She was a mess of blood and tears, back in the future.

"Well, I guess we're not going to get any answers from him, eh? Meh. That's fine. I'll give you guys a minute to catch your breath, then we'll do team introductions," Kakashi said. _Kakashi_ said.

It was truly a shame, Kakashi. A prodigy truly beyond his years, just like Itachi and himself. They were the rare types of people who have experienced how it feels to lose everything.

_No_, Sasuke thought to himself, _its all gone now. Its all going to be alright now. I'm going to _make it_ alright._

"And Sasuke, your turn." his mentor exclaimed in mock happiness, clapping his hands together.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality," he said it with a dead calm— one of the items in the criteria of achieving true Uchiha-dom, "I will kill a certain man," this time, however, that man was not Itachi. _Madara Uchiha_ was the name of the man he was going to kill, "and tear into shreds anyone who tries to shame my family."

Yes, Sasuke knows that the Uchihas are ill-fated—or blessed, with a forever curse of hatred.

That didn't stop him from loving and feeling pride for his family, though.

_That… did not go as expected,_ Kakashi thought to himself. The boy had, in his eyes, a wisdom far beyond his years. _I wonder who it is he truly wants to kill._

"Well, you guys are… unique! Okie dokie, we will meet in the forest training field tomorrow at 5:00AM. We are going to do a survival exercise—and don't forget to not eat breakfast!"

"What? A survival exercise? We already did it in the Academy! We're genin now, aren't we?" Naruto loudly stated his opinion on the matter, and with hopeful eyes, looked to his teacher.

"Allow me to inform you, of a secret. The truth is, only one third of all Academy graduates _get_ to be genin… the survival exercise is actually a test in which you may pass. That is all I am going to say." Kakashi stated, with an eerie gleam in his eyes as his mask moved to form a devious smile, "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura left.

"Bye!" Naruto left.

Sasuke left.

Kakashi stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"The speed you displayed back there… its unnatural. Where did you learn to do that?" Kakashi didn't usually demand answers from others… But when he did, he absolutely _demanded_ them.

Glaring at his student as if daring him to speak the truth, the elder of the two started to engage in a staring battle with his student.

"I'm just fast, that's all," Sasuke was immune to the glare. He was born and bred by _Uchihas_, after all.

"Really?"

"Yes. I am going to go home now, if you don't mind."

"Good, now go."

Sasuke didn't budge.

Kakashi didn't budge.

"Go, what are you waiting for?"

"Please let go of my arm."

"Oh."

He let go of Sasuke's arm.

"What are you waiting for, now?"

"I've heard of you, Copy Ninja Kakashi," Sasuke started, "Don't you have original jutsu?"

"Yes, why yes I do." Kakashi was playing right into his hands by getting offended at his statement.

"Prove it to me, then."

Kakashi brought his hands and formed a lightning ball, and set off—smashing into the trees.

"Teach me it," Sasuke said, slowly as if in awe.

"No." Kakashi stated, flatly.

"Why?" the Uchiha tried a whine, he had to act his age, after all.

"You aren't strong enough to handle this." his mentor said, as if gently reprimanding a little child.

"Please." Sasuke pleads one more time.

"No." Kakashi denies him again, _flatly_.

"Fine." he looked as if he just gave up. Oh, no—it was far from over.

"Huh?" his teacher thought that he had more grit than that.

"Then I'm going to hate you forever and because of me being consumed by that hate I will escape the village because its tainted by your presence then I'm going to get capture by missing nin then we're going go start battling to the death then I'm going to die because you didn't teach me a jutsu that will save potentially save my life."

"Sas-" Kakashi tried to deny.

"Imagine that, the sharingan bloodline lost _forever_! What a pity, it was so precious to Konoha, too. I guess the founding clans, Uchiha and Senju, will both die out. There are only very few members left, after all. But I suppose that the villagers will blame it on you, and—…"

"Please stop!" Kakashi said, covering his ears with his hands then putting them back again, "I'll teach you, if thats what's going to make you stop."

Sasuke's eyes lit up like Christmas lights.

"But not now, when I see fit."

"Fine." Grumpily, the surviving Uchiha knew that was the most he could get out of his mentor.

**_Kid, you do realise that you can still perform the chidori, do you not?_**

_What?_

**_Now that he has shown you, you just need to activate your mangekyou and then you'll know it._**

_But Kakashi will wonder who I learned that jutsu from._

**_You can just say that you're a superhero prodigy and memorised his jutsu as he showed it to you._**

_Hey, Datora… That actually makes sense!_

As the brunette stepped foot into the Uchiha compound, he immediately set for the Uchiha library.

No time to use train in chidori, he knows that he can make it. The mangekyou can greatly enhance one's chakra pools, anyway.

It had… a lot of information. Since a handful of Uchiha ninjas had sharingan, it would make sense to inscribe those jutsu into a scroll, after all.

However, Sasuke wasn't looking for jutsu scrolls—he would save that for later. What he was really looking for was _sealing scrolls_. More specifically, hawk sealing scrolls.

He knew that he didn't have that much time left to make things right—only three and a half years to prepare for the biggest threat posed to humanity… And only just around three to prepare for Pein.

Sighing in frustration, he knew that while his mangekyou was still a great and valuable asset to him, he could not possibly defeat his opponents with only that—they were Gods in disguise!

Nevertheless, Sasuke still thought that he would go one step at a time. The first step being the hawk summoning scroll.

He finally found it! Hidden in the "summoning scrolls" section of the Uchiha library, was a dusty hawk summoning scroll. He guessed that crows and owls were more popular choices.

He opens the scroll, and biting his fingers so that blood came out, he signed his name with the blood of his thumb on the scroll.

Uchiha Sasuke was a name that now appeared on the scroll.

"Summoning no jutsu," he whispered.

An average sized hawk appeared on the floor of the grandiose library. Sweat drop forming on his forehead, what had happened?

Back in the future, he could summon a gigantic hawk blindfolded, with his hands tied behind his back.

But he digresses. He was sure that if he didn't have the mangekyou, nothing would even appear—or maybe an egg, if he got lucky.

Rubbing his fingers on his forehead, he sighed the millionth time that day.

Why was his chakra levels so pathetic?

**_Your chakra levels are not pathetic. It is just me with the gigantic pool of chakra—you simply cannot control it._**

_How do I maintain at least a _basic_ control over it?_

**_The summoning jutsu is good practise. Train._**

Okay, it is decided then. Sasuke was going to train the living daylights out of himself.

…

…

…

Many shouts from the library, exclaiming "summoning jutsu!" could be heard that night.

…

…

…

Five hours later, Sasuke had finally, _finally_ managed to make Junichiro, the "boss hawk" of all hawks.

"What have you summoned me here for, foolish mortal?"

"Be my servant." Sasuke demanded.

"You dare? A foolish mortal dares to demand me to do their bidding?" a tick could be seen from Junichiro's forehead.

"Yes."

The massive hawk sighed, realising that his summoner was serious. "Prove to me that you are able, then."

"How?"

"Beat me in a fight." the hawk challenged, daring Sasuke to take it.  
>"That'll be a piece of cake." the Uchiha accepted.<p>

"_Mangekyou sharingan,_" Sasuke whispered, the cursed blessing that is able to control even bijuu—can of course control a hawk, "Forfeit."

"Yes, sire."

_This chapter has lots of humour in it, and its touching the surface of a crackfic! =D_

_So, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!_

—Koneko


	4. Itachi is Abjectly Altruistic

TWO WEEKS LATER

Sasuke cursed himself for not realising this sooner—his brother was still alive! And, on top of that, he was going to come to Konoha right after the Chuunin exams!

Yes, he would attempt to stop his brother from his abjectly altruistic path towards self-destruction by fratricide. The question was… How? How does he delay his brother on his selfless path towards Heaven—how does he convince him that Otouto still loves him, all without telling him that he was a time traveller from an almost dystopian dimension?

The brunette shook his head—he should not think about this now, he has to train and become better than he was in the previous timeline to avoid more causalities when defeating Madara and Kaguya.

Kaguya—poor woman. All she had wanted was to be a normal mother, and simply gotten insane due to the fact that her children are getting more powerful than her—they don't need her anymore.

Sasuke guessed that it was a pain all parents would have to endure, the denial that their children do not need them any longer.

He digresses.

Now, coming back to his original topic, how was he going to face his brother when he came to Konoha? Hug the life out of him, perhaps?

Nah, Sasuke would just train the life out of himself, and worry about the problem later—…

"Excuse me, sir, but I have noticed you may be 'zoning out'?" Junichiro asked, wings flapping curiously.

"Oh, right, I seem to be doing that a lot recently, haven't I?" The sole Uchiha heir scratched his head sheepishly. Mentally scolding himself for acting childlike and speaking to a bird when he could be training.

Uchiha Sasuke had done almost nothing productive in the past two weeks, save for bonding with Junichiro (bonding with one's summons is very important, regardless of what others may say), training, and finally building up his chakra reserves to an acceptable level.

High-chuunin level, perhaps?

Anyways, if his memories serve him right, this should be around the time with the trip of wave… This time around, he might actually hold his ground against Zakuza, or at least Zaku.

Right?

Shaking his head, Sasuke decided that he still needed to train his butt off. Yes, train his butt off it is.

Opening up the advanced scroll of Uchiha Ninjutsu, he realised that he was almost done! Sighing for the millionth time that day, he told Junichiro in a Shikamaru-like voice, "We'll be training again."

_UCHIHA NINJUTSU: ADVANCED LEVEL (A TO S RANK)_

_GOURYUUKA GOUKA NO JUTSU—HELLISH DRAGON: WORLD DESTROYING CONFLAGRATION TECHNIQUE (S RANK)_

_Close your eyes and think. Think of a great dragon, residing in your stomach filled with flame._

_Feel the sense of power pulsing through your veins, imagine the fire filling up every cell of your body, burning and burning like the eternal flames of hell, never stopping at anything, always pushing through._

_Now, imagine that dragon—that power, climb up your spine, scorch your throat, then out your mouth—…_

"ACHOO!"

Sasuke coughed as a puff of black smoke flew out his mouth, only a small _tiny_ dragon flying out his mouth. A tiny _tiny_ dragon—it could almost be called a lizard—no, gecko.

"Should _not_ have attempted that without my Sharingan. It still seems like my chakra reserves are pathetic!"

"Sir, if you may allow me, you have already been practising for more than six hours. You're chakra reserves are of course very low, and practising an S-rank jutsu not many adults are even able to perform as a thirteen year old is of course not going to work out well. Besides, it is not beneficial—harmful, even, to your health, sir—" Junichiro chastised, only to be interrupted by his "young master."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Junichiro. But how am I supposed to save the world from an Eternal Mangekyou-Rinnegan possessing lunatic trying to put the world under an infinite Tsukyomi, while attempting to obtain the Moon Eye as his own with powerful allies?" Sasuke vocalised to his hawk companion, only to have him tilted his head in confusion. "Its nothing."

**_Sasuke. Focus on your katon chakra coils._ **Datara mentored.

_Oh, Datara. I forgot that you were there!_ Sasuke realised, he could've been asking for Datara's help all this time!

Now, to try again, with Sharingan this time.

"GOURYUUKA GOUKA NO JUTSU! HELLISH DRAGON: WORLD DESTROYING CONFLAGRATION TECHNIQUE."

**寅-未-戌-辰-寅-辰-寅-丑-巳-午-辰**。

**Tiger-ram-dog-dragon-tiger-dragon-tiger-ox-snake-horse-dragon.**

This time, as if on cue, a majestic red dragon the almost double the size of Junichiro—who stands on an almost gigantic 245cm, by the way, shot up into the sky and down… Only to hit upon the barren fields of the Uchiha training field, almost setting Sasuke himself on fire.

"Yes! Junichiro, we did it! We finally accomplished our first S-rank jutsu together, after _hours_ and _hours_ of training, we… We did it!" Sasuke cried in chibi form, tears flowing out of his eyes like a waterfall.

"Yes, sir, we did it."  
>"Oh, cut the "sir," Junichiro, just call me Sasuke."<p>

"…Uchiha-san."

"…" A pregnant silence enveloped the empty training field in a not-so warm hug.

"…" Junichiro was silent, waiting for his master's response.

"Let's go to eat dinner, Junichiro!"

LINE BREAK

_Oh yes, _Sasuke thought, _I'm more ready than ever to face Eyebrow-less and Androgynous. I just have to wait for Naruto to start complaining._

"OLD MAN HOKAGE…!" Naruto wailed, "WHY CAN'T WE EVER GET A HARDER MISSION?"

"No, Naruto. You guys have only been genin for little over two weeks, I simply cannot [insert long explanation of ninja ranking categories and assigned missions based on power ranking]"

When the hokage finished from his long speech, all he saw was the team huddled up in a tight circle, discussing ramen flavours. The speech was so boring, even Sasuke joined in.

LINE BREAK

I'm so so so terribly sorry! I've been so busy the couple of weeks ;-;

I'll be updating way more frequently from now on! =D


	5. Demon Brothers Relatively Harmless

**Chapter five: The Demon Brothers are Relatively Harmless**

"Fine, fine, here's a C-rank." Finally. Finally. _Finally._ Sasuke's real test of strength comes here, this was where he could prove his strength—prove it to himself that he is able to stop that maniac from ever acting on his apocalypse plan. If, just _if_ he could defeat this opponent at the age of thirteen, then maybe, just _maybe_ that he had the chance to stop Madara after three years time.

LINE BREAK

Sasuke held his hands to a fist in almost overwhelming trepidation for the event that was about to come, Zabuza is going to strike, anytime now.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

The raven wildly spun his head back, eyes widening and pupils shrinking into a slit—much like that of a snake. What else could he do? The test of the Uchiha's power had finally come, and he just couldn't wait to hold his prey's neck and squish it into a puddle of blood and gore, and mess of bones and muscle.

Then he would chomp it down, _munch_ and _chew_ it like a savage animal—beast, would a freshly hunted down, vulnerable, _vulnerable_ antelope.

_No_, Sasuke shook his head, his hair a mess of blue and black, _it was just a bird. Datara's bloodlust must be getting to me._

"Sasuke-teme, what was that just now?" Everyone's favourite orange-wearing knucklehead yelled, obviously unaware of Sasuke's bloodlust-filled gaze towards the sound of a rustle.

"Nothing of your concern, usuratonkachi." The raven replied with a cursory glance and a nonchalant monotone, as if mocking Naruto for his ignorance.

Watching her teammates interact, Sakura couldn't hold back a giggle, because her teammates were so silly. _Oh so silly_, it almost seemed like the moment was magical—so magical and beautiful and gorgeous that it wouldn't last very long. So extraordinary that something terrifying was going to happen right after it—calm before the storm, they say.

The petite, cherry blossom-haired girl mentally shook her head,_ Sakura, stop being so silly,_ she reminded herself, covered her mouth with both hands and giggled even more at her foolish train of thought.

…And watching the actions of all three genin, the silver-haired teacher stood firmly as he crossed his arms. Frowning, he remembered Sasuke's actions just a moment before.

He had spun around, like a paranoid, alert predator listening for his prey, to the slightest, quietest of noises. The jounin remembered his student's eyes widen, hands shaping into a claw retracting. Sure, those were symptoms of a normal, paranoid genin on his first day out of the village—…

However, the problem was, _he shouldn't even be able to hear that sound_! How can a normal genin develop so quickly the ability to be so alert of his surroundings, heck, even normal chuunin aren't trained to do that!

It was a common ability of a missing-nin, however.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists in a silent moment, he would surely have to keep an eye on this student.

Meanwhile, Sasuke kneeled over to a puddle, a seemingly innocuous puddle.

"Maa, it hasn't rained for days, how come there's a puddle?" Sasuke asked, wearing a nonchalant facade.

"Maybe someone pissed or something." Naruto answered, walking past the kneeling Sasuke.

"NARUTO! Don't say those disgusting things! Besides, urine is yellow." Sakura squealed, stopping her giggling and covering her face to hide her blush with both hands.

"Sakura-chan, don't be so sensitive~! Here, I'll teach you how to not be so sensitive if you'll go on a date with me!" Naruto shamelessly offered, waving his right (dominant) hand.

"GEEZ, NARUTO, WILL YOU EVER GET THAT I'M. NOT. INTERESTED!"

The jounin with gravity-defying hair watched, eyes wrinkled and amused, at their interaction.

Snapping those three out of their "bonding time" with manly screams, the "Demon Brothers" fell to the ground and collapsed in a heap.

"W-what happened?" the blonde-haired and bubblegum-haired genin asked at the same time, fear and shock reflecting in their wide-open, frantic orbs.

"I happened." The only Uchiha (not the only one possessing the sharingan, it appears) replied.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes again, he had saw, in his peripheral vision, what _really_ happened. He saw everything, yes, everything. He saw Sasuke lift his fingers. He saw his student touch the water's surface—and in a small, concentrated _zap_ of electricity, it ended as soon as it began.

The raven-haired Uchiha discreetly winked in his direction, a universal sign for "you-saw-something-but-don't-tell-anyone-okay."

*Sigh*.

"Maa, two people just happened to collapse out of a puddle. Meh, that's something you'll get used to, once you're an real, butt-kickin' ninja." Kakashi replied, flipping out his favourite, orange-covered pastime book.

"_Really_? Does that mean that I'm a real, badass ninja now?" Naruto went on, "That's so cool!"

"Naruto, language." Sakura gently chastised, bonking Naruto on the head for his "inappropriate use of language", as she said.

"Let's go already, if you lovebirds would stop bickering." Sasuke yelled over to his teammates, teacher, and person to escort… Who, now that Sasuke thinks about it, has been abnormally quiet for the time being.

"Fine, teme! I'm going to catch up!" Naruto briefly grinned at the mention of "lovebirds," and ran up to Sasuke.

"L-lovebirds? Sasuke-kun! You know that I-I, like you best, right?" Sakura's face was a whole new level of dark red as she quietly and quickly muttered the second part of her dialogue.

"Eh, I realised something. Tazuna-san, you alright? All quiet standing there, you must have something not working in your favour, ne?" Kakashi smirked as he called out to the silent bridge-builder. "Hm, now that I think of it, the ones who collapsed were the infamous 'Demon Brothers,' am I not right? But if we're facing enemies like these, this would at least escalate to a B-rank!"

"F-fine. Here, I'll tell you, alright? Wave, Wave is a really poor country, and w-we can't afford the price of a S-rank. I-I'm s-so sorry, I-I… I… Can only warn you that if you continue, there will be more, tougher enemies." Tazuna stuttered, looking down to his feet, "But, but please, _please_ help us! Y-you guys are our only hope of ever establishing communication, the only way for Wave to restore its former glory is this bridge!"

"Maa, mendokusei, ne? should we continue? Guys?" the silver-haired jounin said in an untroubled tone.

LINE BREAK: AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys, you know how almost no one uses the Copy N' Paste formats? Well, I tried it today. It works surprisingly well, and there are a few perks that I found.

Since almost no one uses the Copy N' Paste format to upload a document, almost no one knows that you can insert a...

Blockquote, which looks like this. Here, you could quote people with really really really REALLY long quotes, just for fun! =D

Still can't really see the use in it, because who'd want to quote anyone in FFN? Like, this isn't FictionPress or anything, and no one's writing an essay with strong supporting evidence and stuff... Right?

Here, I found that you can actually high light text! Woah, this thing is so cool, its like, green! And also, the "INSERT HORIZONTAL RULE" thing was missing since like, a couple of months ago. Ehh... Did no one wonder where it went? Well, I certainly did! =D

~Koneko


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